Bacterium linked to colon cancer

This from Michelle Roberts and BBC News.. First: H. pylori, then Fusobacteria… I'd ask you: why not for poorly healing wounds? Perhaps not just one genus and species, but perhaps a bad community of bacteria conspiring to nefarious healing mischief. Read on and enjoy. Cheers, -DGA

Early warning signs and symptoms

A persistent change in normal bowel habit, such as going to the toilet more often and diarrhoea, especially if you are also bleeding from your back passage

Bleeding from the back passage without any reason, particularly over the age of 50

A lump in your tummy or a lump in your back passage felt by your doctor

Unexplained iron deficiency in men or in women after the menopause

Unexplained extreme tiredness

And other cancers are known to be linked with certain bacteria and viruses – for example, HPV and cervical cancer.

The first study, led by Dr Robert Holt from Simon Fraser University in Canada, identified Fusobacterium's hallmark in RNA present in bowel cancer tumours. RNA is genetic material similar to DNA which is involved in transmitting and translating the genetic code.

The other team, led by Dr Matthew Meyerson from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, US, found microbial sequences of DNA indicative of Fusobacterium.

Together, they looked at more than 100 samples of healthy and cancerous bowel tissue.

Sarah Williams, of Cancer Research UK, said the research gave a clue about the environment in which bowel cancer grows, but added: “It's early days and we look forward to the results of more specific, in-depth studies.

“In the meantime, people can reduce their risk of bowel cancer by not smoking, cutting down on alcohol, keeping a healthy weight, being active, reducing the amount of red and processed meat in their diet and eating plenty of fibre.”